[lricky]

Hi folks. Both my low beams quit at the same time. Odd. Never seen that before. When I unplugged the main lamp assembly I noticed burn marks and melting on one of the pin plug in sockets. Anybody seen this before on gl1500 and suggest a fix. Or even a common cause to look for??

 

[DaveO430]

Have you been using higher than stock wattage bulbs?

 

[lricky]

H4 Halogen 55-60 watts. Sylvania 9003. I've used them for quite a while now. I do notice that they run very hot. Was thinking of switching to leds. Thoughts??

 

[DaveO430]

Love LEDs. Nice bright white light and less power consumption.

 

[Bike...and Dennis]

That burn looks like arcing inside the plug, due to loose fit, or maybe a dirty connector.

 

[lricky]

I checked with multimeter. No power on low beam side. I guess that arcing must have fried the connections resulting in the low beams going off??

 

[tamathumper]

Electrical systems run on magic smoke. Once you see it escape the system no longer works, and that burnt / melted plastic probably resulted in a bunch of escaping magic smoke. You can replace that whole plug and the burnt ends, and I second the switch to LEDs, I use Electrical Connections in my GL1800.

 

[AZgl1800]

Electrical systems run on magic smoke. Once you see it escape the system no longer works, and that burnt / melted plastic probably resulted in a bunch of escaping magic smoke. You can replace that whole plug and the burnt ends, and I second the switch to LEDs, I use Electrical Connections in my GL1800.

I love your explanation.....
having worked as an Electronic's Tech since 1958, I have always joked that I "let the good smoke out"

this brings up a memory from long ago...
I used to wear watches with those fancy Spidel metal expansion bands.

One day, while working on an older car, that watch band bridged the Positive post to the vertical Bolt that secures the battery down....

Needless to say, it smoked, and I said a few words that will remain unrepeated again.

from that day on, I never, ever, wore anything metal on my hands, or arms.
Not even a wedding ring, and once my new wife heard the story, and was shown an example on our car's battery...... and the melted remains of that piece of metal, she never mentioned it again.
.

 

[Pure Texas]

You might have a dirty switch too,
the 1500 is famous for that,
you can remove them ,
may as well do both sides,
spray electrical contact cleaner and lube them,

you will be happy later but that won’t cause what you have but cause no power to low beam.

 

[lricky]

Thanks for the replies folks.

 

[Bryanlj]

Lucas used to sell jars of wiring loom smoke

 

[AZgl1800]

Lucas used to sell jars of wiring loom smoke

🙃

 

[flylow]

When you say no voltage, was that on the wire side/back of the plug or the output side of the fuse?

 

[Sprocketrocket55]

I run high beam in the daytime, low beam at night. Since I ride more during the day. High gives more visabliity to traffic and save low bulb filaments for night.

Sent from my SM-J320V using Tapatalk

 

[lricky]

Thanks everybody. Found it. Looks like the wire was indeed arcing form being loose. Other problem was #8 relay. I swapped it out for #5 (air compressor for shocks) and the low beams came on. ( and the compressor wouldn't work). So I'm ordering a New relay and should be back in business. Thanks again everybody for the prompt replies. I really appreciate it.